to: enable the publication of information in relation to sponsor sanctions; clarify the circumstances in which merits review is available for visas that require an approved nomination; and correct certain references to the

Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014

; and

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936

,

Migration Act 1958

and

Taxation Administration Act 1953

to enable the department to collect, record, store and use tax file numbers for prescribed purposes in relation to prescribed visas.

to: amend the definition of ‘protected information’ so that only specific kinds of information are covered by the secrecy and disclosure provisions of the Act; remove the current requirements for bodies to which information can be disclosed and classes of information to be prescribed in the Australian Border Force (Secrecy and Disclosure) Rule 2015; and add new permitted purposes for which certain Immigration and Border Protection information that contains personal information can be disclosed under the Act; and

Introduced with the Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Bill 2017, the bill amends the

Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Act 1997

to ensure that a migration agent who paid the non-commercial registration application charge in relation to their current period of registration, but gives immigration assistance otherwise than on a non-commercial basis, is liable to pay an adjusted charge.

to: remove legal practitioners from regulation by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA); provide that the time period in which a person can be considered an applicant for repeat registration as a migration agent is set out in delegated legislation; remove the 12-month time limit within which a person must apply for registration following completion of a prescribed course; remove redundant regulatory provisions; enable the MARA to refuse an application to become a registered migration agent where the applicant does not respond to requests for further information; require migration agents to notify the MARA that they have ceased acting on a non-commercial basis and commenced acting on a commercial basis; ensure that the definitions of ‘immigration assistance’ and ‘immigration representations’ include assisting a person in relation to a request to the minister to revoke a character-related visa refusal or cancellation decision.

in relation to: strengthened citizenship requirements, including in relation to permanent residency and English language proficiency; the definition of ‘spouse’ and ‘de facto partner’; citizenship by adoption; automatic acquisition of citizenship; citizenship by conferral; residence requirements for citizenship; good character requirements; bar on approval for citizenship where there are related criminal offences; offence provisions; mandatory and discretionary cancellation of approval of citizenship; ministerial discretion to delay the making of the pledge of allegiance; increase in the maximum period of deferral for making the pledge of allegiance; revocation of citizenship by descent, conferral or under intercountry adoption arrangements; ministerial power to make legislative instruments; use and disclosure of personal information; and consequential amendments; and

to: harmonise and streamline provisions in relation to the code of procedure for review of decisions by the Migration and Refugee Division (MRD) of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; clarify the operation of certain provisions relating to the conduct of review; clarify the notification requirements in relation to oral decisions of the MRD; and make technical amendments in relation to the giving of documents and the mechanism for review of decisions by the Immigration Assessment Authority in relation to family groups; and

and Migration Regulations 1994 to: prevent unauthorised maritime arrivals or transitory persons (referred to as members of the designated regional processing cohort) who were at least 18 years of age and were taken to a regional processing country after 19 July 2013 from making a valid application for an Australian visa; enable the minister to permit a member of the designated regional processing cohort, or a class of persons within the designated regional processing cohort, to make a valid application for a visa if the minister thinks it is in the public interest to do so; and prevent a member of the designated regional processing cohort from being deemed to have been granted a special purpose visa or being deemed to have applied for particular visas under the Migration Regulations 1994.

to: establish a framework which requires certain visa holders to revalidate certain information, either within a specified period (a routine revalidation check) or if the minister determines that it is in the public interest (a public interest revalidation check); provide that certain events that cause a visa that is in effect to cease will, as a general rule, cause a visa that is held, but not in effect, to be taken to cease; and enable the use of contactless technology to clear travellers through the immigration clearance system (SmartGate).